Pathfinder - Ninja Handbook

Disclaimer

I will use content from the core rules, but will intentionally omit any content not published
on the official Pathfinder SRD due to the
unmanageable volume of non-SRD content, and the wildly varying quality of non-SRD content.
If you would like me to write handbooks for specific content not published on the official
SRD, please email me and I will consider it on a case-by-case
basis. I will use the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build
handbooks. Also note that many colored items are also links to the Paizo SRD.

Red: Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational.

Orange: OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances

Green: Good options.

Blue: Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character.

Temporary Note: Pathfinder Unchained and Occult Adventures were
both recently added to the SRD. I'm excited to explore them, and I am actively working
on adding their contents to my collection of handbooks. I appreciate your patience while
I make these changes.

Introduction

The Ninja is an alternate class to the Rogue, combining some of the Monk's mystic
abilities with the Rogue's talent for stealth, cunning, and stabbing things.

Ninja Class Features

Base Attack Bonus: At 2/3 BAB the Ninja won't keeup up
with Fighters in a stand-up fight, but Ninjas aren't intended for a stand-up fight.

Saves: Ninjas have one good save (Reflex), and depend
on Dexterity, but don't get Evasion until at least 10th level. Because they don't
need Wisdom like a Monk, their Will saves are likely poor as well.

Proficiencies: With light armor, the Ninja needs to
rely on Dexterity to improve their AC. Because they need Dexterity, it is typically
best to rely on Dexterity for attacks as well. The best weapons available to the Ninja
are the Wakizashi, Shuriken, and shortbow. The other weapon proficiencies are flavorful,
but are mostly only good for combat maneuvers.

Skills: 8+ skill ranks, and an almost identical skill
list to Rogues. Unfortunately, the Ninja doesn't get Trapfinding, which reduces the
Ninja's effectiveness as a Scout, but because they need Charisma to fueld their Ki
Pool, the Ninja is better equipped to serve as a Face than the Rogue.

Poison Use: Poison is expensive, difficult to use, and
unreliable. If you plan to use it, do so sparingly and with plenty of forethought.

Sneak Attack: The Ninja's main resource in combat.

Ki Pool (Su): The Ki Pool fuels the Ninja's abilities.
At start, the biggest draw is spending one point for an extra attack. When you are in
an advantageous position, this is an excellent way to get an extra pile of Sneak Attack
damage.

Ninja Tricks: The primary means of customizing your
Ninja.

Acrobatic Master (Su): Very situational. Your
Acrobatics modifier should be good enough without this that you can safely
tumble in combat.

Bleeding Attack* (Ex): Bleed effects are always
tempting, but rarely worthwile. This could be useful for hit-and-run attacks,
but you would be better served outright killing someone instead of waiting for
them to bleed to death. At higher levels the bleed damage can become very scary,
but fast healing and regeneration become more common.

Combat Trick: Many Ninja Tricks are better than
many feats you may want, but this is great for getting Two-Weapon Fighting early.

Darkvision (Su): Darkvision is crucial for Scouts
trying to move around unnoticed, but Ki points are precious.

Deadly Range (Ex): Sneak attack at range is
difficult, but this can help if you are sniping or if you are attacking from
Improved Invisibility and can't spare actions to move.

Deflect Arrows: Very situational.

Fast Stealth (Ex): Situational, but very cool and
thematic.

Feather Fall (Su): Very situational.

Flurry of Stars (Ex): Did you roll the highest
Initiative? Are your enemies flat-footed? Time for Flurry of Stars. Combined with
Two-Weapon Fighting, you can throw a dizzying number of shurikens to deal a huge
amount of damage.

Poison Bomb (Ex): A great way to get some more
mileage out of your expensive poisons.

Pressure Points* (Su): Combine this with multiple
sneak attacks in a given round, and you can really cripple your enemies.

Rogue Talent: While many Rogue Talents and Ninja
Tricks overlap, there are a few good Rogue Talents which Ninjas don't get access
to. Read my
Rogue
Talents Breakdown for help selecting a Rogue Talent. If you plan to make use
of poisons, the Rogue has several excellent options to supplement the Ninja's
Poison Use.

Slow Reactions* (Ex): Fantastic for escaping and
for Scout archetype Ninjas who need to keep moving to Sneak Attack.

Smoke Bomb (Ex): Or you could just buy a smokestick.
This is only good if you want Poison/Chocking Bomb.

Snatch Arrows: Awful.

Style Master: Many Monk styles are very good, and
will benefit a Ninja greatly. Panther Style is especially interesting for Scout
archetype Ninjas, and Snake Style can help solve your AC issues. See the
Style Feat
section of my Monk Handbook for help selecting a style feat.

Sudden Disguise (Su): Situational, but potentially
hillarious.

Unarmed Combat Training: Weapons will almost
always be a better option for the Ninja, but some feats and abilities rely on
using unarmed strikes.

Undetected Sabotage (Ex): Situational, and you can
usually do this with a normal Disable Device check.

Vanishing Trick (Su): Absolutely fantastic. This
is a guranteed way to get Sneak Attack for at least one round.

Ventriloquism (Su): Hugely situational.

Wall Climber (Su): Hugely situational, and easily
replicated or replace by Spider Climb or anything that lets you fly.

Weapon Training: Ocasionally useful to boost your
relatively low attack bonus, but you can get many more interesting options from
other tricks.

No Trace (Ex): Situational, and the bonuses are small.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Situational, but it allows you to
do silly things like using Full Defense outside of combat.

Light Steps (Ex): Situational, but very cool.

Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Hugely situational.

Master Tricks: A considerably improvement on Ninja Tricks.

Advanced Talents: The rogue has several excellent
Advanced Talents. You can only take one, so choose carefully.Read my
Rogue
Talents Breakdown for help selecting an Advanced Talent.

Blinding Bomb (Ex): Blinding enemies is very
effective crowd control, and allows you to Sneak Attack the targets.

Deadly Shuriken (Ex): Absolutely awful. You only
get to apply Sneak Attack once. Why would you ever do this instead of making
multiple attacks?

Evasion (Ex): Excellent, but very late in the game.

Feat: Many Master Talents are better than feats,
so only take this when you run out Master Talents that you want.

Ghost Step (Su): Excellent for escaping and
infiltration, but this will burn through your Ki very quickly.

Invisible Blade (Su): Absolutely essential. Ninjas
will likely use this in every combat.

Master Disguise (Su): Very situational.

See the Unseen (Su): This isn't nearly good enough
to justify a Master Trick. By now your party should have plenty of options for
detecting invisible creatures.

Shadow Split (Su): Situational.

Unarmed Combat Mastery: Only useful if you devote
resources to fighting unarmed, which is rarely a good choice for a Ninja.

Unbound Steps (Su): Too expensive for one round of
Air Walk, which your Cleric can cast on you by now.

Hidden Master (Su): Invisible Blade is much less costly,
but imposing a -10 penalty to constitution is going to be much more effective than an
average of 35 damage from one attack.

Compatible Archetypes

Alternate classes can take archetypes for the base class so long as they have the
same class features altered or replaced by the Archetype.

Bandit: Good for ambushes, but not compatible with
Scout.

Burglar: You still don't get Trapfinding

Sanctified Rogue: The sacred bonuses to bad saves
are nice, and Augury can be very useful, but this doesn't help the Ninja do any
Ninja things, and it's not compatible with Scout.

Scout: Uncanny dodge is terrible, and Scout provides
some great ways to get guranteed Sneak Attack without help from your allies. O
would take this on every Ninja.

Trapsmith: You still don't get Trapfinding

Abilities

Ninjas primarily rely on Dexterity, but need Charisma for their Ki Pool and a
splash of every other ability to keep themelves functional. They are somewhat MAD,
but really only need a splash of their less important abilities..

Wis: Only useful for Will saves, and you can overcome
a penalty with a cloak.

Cha: Fuels your conversational skills and your Ki Pool.

25 Point Buy

20 Point Buy

15 Point Buy

Elite Array

Str: 12

Dex: 17

Con: 14

Int: 10

Wis: 10

Cha: 14

Str: 12

Dex: 16

Con: 14

Int: 10

Wis: 8

Cha: 14

Str: 10

Dex: 16

Con: 12

Int: 10

Wis: 8

Cha: 14

Str: 10

Dex: 15

Con: 13

Int: 12

Wis: 8

Cha: 14

Races

Darkvision is crucial for scouts, but can be provided by items or spells. Look
for ability bonuses to help compensate for the Ninja's MAD.

Dwarf: Bonuses to two unimportant abilities and a penalty
to an important ability. The only real draw is Darkvision..

Elf: The bonus dexterity helps, and the intelligence
bonus grants some extra skill ranks, but the other racial abilities aren't helpful.

Gnome: Bonuses to Constitution and Charisma are both
helpful, but the Gnome can't keep up with the Halfling.

Half-Elf: Flexible ability bonus, and helpful if you
plan to multiclass. Alternate racial traits offer a lot of great options, and
Half-Elves can take the Human favored class bonus for additional talents.

Half-Orc: Flexible ability bonus and Darkvision are
both nice. Half-Orcs can take the Human favored class bonus for additional talents.

Halfling: Bonuses to the Ninja's two most important
abilities, and a bunch of bonuses to stealth. The reduced damage and speed are
annoying, but can be easily overcome.

Human: Because Ninjas are typically two-weapon fighters
they tend to be feat-starved, so the Human bonus feat is crucial. The favored class
bonus grants a few bonus Talents (remember that the Ninja is an alternate class for
Rogues, so logically you should be able to take the same favored class bonus) which
can get you Combat Trick or Weapon Training to help with the feat requirements.

Traits

Anatomist (Combat): Critical hits are not for Sneak
Attack classes.

Armor Expert (Combat): Don't be tempted by this. The
tiny armor check penalty to AC will go away as soon as you can afford to spend
1100 gp on a Mithral Shirt.

Axe to Grind (Combat): Unfortunately, you will
depend on flanking until you can get Invisible Blade at level 11, so engaging
an enemy by yourself is rarely a good choice.

Hidden Hand (Combat): You only get one attack
during a surprise round, and +1 bonus to one attack in some combats isn't much.

Nature's Mimic (Combat): You have 8+ skill ranks,
so you have enough ranks to invest in Knowledge skills if you feel the need.

Reactionary (Combat): Initiative bonuses are
fantastic for getting early sneak attacks while your enemies are still flat-footed.

Resilient (Combat): Bonus to one of your bad saves.

Child of the Temple (Faith): You have 8+ skill ranks,
so you have enough ranks to invest in Knowledge skills if you feel the need.

Devotee of the Green (Faith): You have 8+ skill ranks,
so you have enough ranks to invest in Knowledge skills if you feel the need.

History of Heresy (Faith): Divine spells are half
of all spells, but you would be better served to get a bonus that applies to
non-spells too.

Indomitable Faith (Faith): Bonus to one of your
bad saves.

Inspired (Faith): You have a lot of skills, and
this makes you a bit more reliable with them.

Planar Savant (Faith): You have 8+ skill ranks,
so you have enough ranks to invest in Knowledge skills if you feel the need.

Scholar of the Great Beyond (Faith): You have 8+
skill ranks, so you have enough ranks to invest in Knowledge skills if you feel
the need.

Mathematical Prodigy (Magic): You have 8+ skill
ranks, so you have enough ranks to invest in Knowledge skills if you feel the
need.

Life of Toil (Social): Bonus to one of your bad
saves.

Savage (Social): You have 8+ skill ranks, so you
have enough ranks to invest in Knowledge skills if you feel the need.

Worldly (Social): You have a lot of skills, and
this makes you a bit more reliable with them.

Warrior of Old (Elf Racial): Initiative bonuses are
fantastic for getting early sneak attacks while your enemies are still flat-footed.

Elven Reflexes (Half-Elf Racial): Initiative bonuses
are fantastic for getting early sneak attacks while your enemies are still flat-footed.

Scholar of Ruins (Human Racial): You have 8+
skill ranks, so you have enough ranks to invest in Knowledge skills if you feel
the need.

Skills

Acrobatics (Dex): Essential for moving through
combat without drawing attacks of opportunity. You can stop investing once your
skill bonus reaches +14.

Appraise (Int): Awful.

Bluff (Cha): Essential if you are the party's
Face, and you can use it to Bluff.

Climb (Str): Very situational.

Diplomacy (Cha): Essential if you are the party's
Face.

Disable Device (Dex): Great for locks, but don't
forget that you don't get Trapfinding.

Disguise (Cha): Very situational.

Escape Artist (Dex): Situational, but nice for
escaping grapples.

Intimidate (Cha): Essential if you are the party's
Face.

Knowledge (local) (Int): Good for identifying
humanoids.

Knowledge (nobility) (Int): One of the least useful
Knowledge skills. Only useful if your campaign specifically calls for it.

Linguistics (Int): Situational. You may want
to learn additional languages if you are the party's Face.

Perception (Wis): The most rolled skill in the
game.

Perform (Cha): You're not a Bard.

Sense Motive (Wis): Helpful if you are the party's
Face.

Sleight of Hand (Dex): Situational.

Stealth (Dex): You're a Ninja.

Swim (Str): Very situational.

Use Magic Device (Cha):

Feats

Close-Quarters Thrower (Combat): The prerequisites
are annoying, but this allows you to focus entirely on Shurikens without needing
to invest in wakizashis.

Deadly Aim: You will already have trouble hitting,
and your damage is primarily from Sneak Attack

Distance Thrower: Helpful with shurikens, and
combines well with Long Shot.

Dodge: +1 to AC helps with the Ninja's low AC, and
Dodge is a prerequisite for a surprising number of other feats.

Extra Ki: Ki pool is one of the only limitations on
the Ninja's daily abilities, so more Ki means you don't need to be quite so
careful with managing your resources.

Extra Rogue Talent: You should be able to take
additional Ninja Tricks in place of a Rogue talent.

Great Fortitude: This will help with your low
saves, but its hard to spend a feat when you can just buy a better cloak.

Improved Critical: Critical hits are not for you.

Improved Initiative: Going first is great on almost
any character, and it's especially important for characters who depend on Sneak
Attack.

Improved Unarmed Strike: Helpful for some builds,
but only if you really plan to invest in fighting unarmed. Of course, if you
plan to fight unarmed you should just take a level of Monk to get all of the
feats you need.

Combat Style Master: It's hard to find
enough Monk styles to justify this feat. If you really want to use style
feats, dip a level of Master of Many Styles Monk.

Stunning Fist: Stunning an enemy is a great
way to make them vulnerable to Sneak Attack, but your DC won't be very
good.

Iron Will: This will help with your low
saves, but its hard to spend a feat when you can just buy a better cloak.

Master Alchemist: Essential if you plan to make
use of poisons.

Point-Blank Shot: Essential if you plan to primarily
use ranged weapons.

Far Shot: Really helps with the Shuriken's
lousy range.

Precise Shot: Essential if you have allies
in melee.

Improved Precise Shot: With some
coordination you can keep your allies from granting your enemies
cover, but sometimes you don't get that luxury. This also helps
overcome concealment, which allows you to Sneak Attack concealed
enemies.

Rapid Shot: Works in combination with
Two-Weapon Fighting when throwing Shurikens.

Multishot: useless for a Sneak
Attack character.

Quick Draw: Allows you to draw both of your
Wakizashi quickly.

Sap Adept: Sure it's subdual, but that is a huge
pile of damage.

Sap Master: A truly insane amount of
Sneak Attack damage. It's still subdual, but this is almost enough damage
to not care.

Toughness: Hopefully you will never need help
with your hit points.

Two-Weapon Fighting: Essential on almost every
Sneak Attack build. Note that if you multiclass into Monk this won't stack
with Flurry of Blows.

Improved Two-Weapon Fighting: The extra
attack may be at too much of a penalty to justify.

Greater Two-Weapon Fighting: At
this point you are very unlikely to hit with an attack at -10
below your highest BAB.

Weapon Finesse: Essential for melee builds.

Weapon Focus: Helpful if you're devoted to one
weapon, but not essential.

Weapons

crossbow, light: Good for archer ninjas (which are a
weird build) with strength penalties.

dagger: Carry a few for utility purposes. Slightly
more damage than a Shuriken, but you can draw a shuriken as a free action without
Quick Draw.

kama: Only good for combat maneuvers, and Ninjas
don't do combat maneuvers.

katana: If you don't plan to use Weapon Finesse
for some reason, this is your best weapon.

kusarigama: Good for a Monk, but you can't use it
with Weapon Finesse, and if you have enough Dexterity for two-weapon fighting
you need Weapon Finesse.

nunchaku: Only good for combat maneuvers, and
Ninjas don't do combat maneuvers.

sai: Only good for combat maneuvers, and Ninjas
don't do combat maneuvers.

shortbow: Good for archer ninjas (which are a
weird build), and good for long-range shots.

short sword: Wakizashi is strictly better.

shuriken: Essential for ranged sneak attacks.

siangham: Awful.

wakizashi: The best choice for two-weapon fighting.

Armor

Armor is presented in the order in which you should acquire it, rather than
alphabetical order.

Studded Leather: Your starting point. This should
last through early levels. Don't bother enhancing because you're going to get a
Mithral Shirt pretty quickly.

Mithral Shirt: Mithral Shirt will be your best bet
for AC until your Dexterity bonus hits +10, which will be extremely high level.

Haramaki: Strictly better than padded armor. With
no maximum dexterity bonus, you can afford to make your Dexterity absurdly high
without restriction, and can still keep enhancing your armor.

Cross-Classing and Prestige Classes

Monk: If you want to fight unarmed, this can save
you a feat, and it gets you a bonus feat and +2 to all of your saves. Second level
gets you Evasion, another bonus feat and Evasion. If you go for 4 levels you can
use Wisdom for your Ki Pool instead of Charisma. Consider the Sohei archetype if
you plan to multiclass into Monk, and you can use Flurry of Blows with a Monk
weapon to Sneak Attack. You can also take Monk Vows for additional Ki.

Rogue: No need to sacrifice Sneak Attack, you get
Trapfinding, and at second level you get Evasion and a Rogue trick. You give up
some of your Ki Pool, but if your party needs Trapfinding this is a must.

Build Ideas

At some point I will write example builds based on these concepts.

Generic TWF Ninja: Nice and simple. Get in close, flank,
and full attack.

Shuriken Master: Combine Two-Weapon Fighting, Rapid Shot,
and Storm of Stars for a truly dizzying number of shuriken attacks. You may
want to keep a Bard handy to compensate for the total -6 penalty to attacks.

Striking Panther: Combine the Scout Ninja with the Master
of Many Styles Monk and the Panter style for a highly mobile Ninja who sneak
attacks primarily by drawing attacks of opportunity. Add Snake Style and Snake
Fang for additional attacks of opportunity.